Read an article today stating that the oil production decline rate is increasing in virtually all shale basins in the United States. This includes the Permian, Eagle Ford, Bakken, Haynesville, Marcellus, Niobrara and Utica. This is being blamed on drilling too many wells in close proximity to one another which reduces pressure in each individual well. Legacy oil shale wells are experiencing greater production declines as new well production increasingly cannibalizes legacy production. You can do your own internet search to find out about this study. What are your thoughts? Does this make sense or is it just BS?
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I feel like it is a matter of time when CVX will have a major fiasco because of the lack of experience and the push to get the older employees out while promoting the new generation too fast just because the new generation knows how to package a good story of "accomplishment".
Shale is a sore subject and there are many who want to shut it down.. I say its BS and a ploy to divert investors into more conventional means of production as well as give them hope that oil prices will increase. Shale is (at least in part) is a contributing factor is why the bottom fell out of oil..
That is where the experience of the production/petroleum/reservoir engineers who had been laid off come in. Understanding the behavior of the shale and the petroleum engineering principles will help to modify the strategy of how to slow down the sharp decreasing rate. The shale has poor permeability and the oil mobility can be improved by re-fracturing the same wellbore. There are complications and many considerations in this operations and so we, the laid off old throw away engineers, are looking at how the oil companies to only hire engineers with 2 to 3 years experience to tackle this sharp decline.
Decline rates have always been high they are just higher as they move out from the sweetest spots. New wells are not robbing production from old wells as the drainage areas are very limited due to low permeability.